1. Technical Field
Exemplary embodiments of this disclosure relate to a cooling device to cool a sheet-type recording material and an image forming apparatus including the cooling device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image forming apparatuses are used as, for example, copiers, printers, facsimile machines, and multi-functional devices having at least one of the foregoing capabilities. As one type of image forming apparatus, electrophotographic image forming apparatuses are known. Such an electrophotographic image forming apparatus may have a fixing device to heat and press a toner image transferred onto a recording material (e.g., a sheet of paper) to fix the toner image on the recording material. After fixing, when recording materials are stacked in such heated state, toner is softened by heat retained in the stacked recording materials, and the stacked recording materials are pressed by their own weights. As a result, the stacked recording materials may adhere to each other with softened toner. Such an adhering state of the stacked recording materials is referred to as blocking phenomenon. If such recording materials adhering to each other are forcefully separated, the toner images fixed on the recording materials may be damaged. To suppress blocking, a recording-material cooling device may be used to cool a recording material after a toner image is fixed on the recording material under heat.
For example, JP-2012-098677-A proposes a configuration of cooling a recording material from both faces of the recording material to enhance cooling efficiency.
Alternatively, for example, JP-2011-057389-A proposes a configuration in which, to reduce resistance between a belt and a contact member, a clearance for introducing air is formed between the belt and the contact member.